Penguin Random House India tonight announced its acquisition of Hind Pocket Books, one of the oldest Hindi language publishers in the country.
Nandan Jha, senior vice president at PRH India, will in his expanded role have the additional responsibility of building the Indian language publishing programme, in addition to heading sales and product for the company.
Established in 1958, Hind Pocket Books is widely considered as pioneer in publishing Hindi and Urdu paperbacks in India, and has an impressive list of critically acclaimed and commercially successful titles.
It has published some of the most renowned authors from the subcontinent and across the world, including Amrita Pritam, Shivani, Acharya Chatursen, Gulshan Nanda, Narendra Kohli, Khushwant Singh and R K Narayan.
Its titles and authors have won several prestigious awards.
The acquisition of Hind Pocket Books will build further on PRH India's presence in local language publishing, to which it has been committed for over a decade. Penguin began its Hindi publishing programme in India in 2005, and has built a significant catalogue of acclaimed titles over the years.
"This acquisition represents our commitment to expand our local-language publishing as we continue to implement our global strategy of growing in our key markets such as India," said PRH CEO Markus Dohle.
According to Shekhar Malhotra, managing director of Hind Pocket Books, "It is only fitting that today our company chooses to hand over its legacy to Penguin Random House India, which will build on this remarkable publishing programme and bring to the forefront our rich cultural heritage of literature and the arts."
PRH India CEO Gaurav Shrinagesh termed it as a landmark acquisition which "reiterates our commitment and passion to grow publishing and readership" in the region.
"Malhotra will be advising our team over the course of the next 12 months, as this will allow us to gain from his rich experience to further build a platform for original language publishing and translations," he added.
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